Crack the Shutters
by londonlights
Summary: B/G fic focusing on 'the morning after'. Song-fic, Crack the Shutters by Snow Patrol.   M just to be safe.


**Crack the Shutters  
****A/N. Yet another B/G pairing from me! This one's slightly different, in the sense that they don't really know each other and it's completely AU.  
Again, I own none of the Buffyverse, including the characters, and the song is not mine. It's 'Crack the Shutters' by Snow Patrol. You should check it out if you don't know it (:**Rupert Giles had woken up with one hell of a hangover. A lot of the previous night was a blur of alcohol and women... Woman. One woman in particular had caught his eye, and as he had grown steadily more and more drunk, his courage had grown. At the time, he'd known he'd wake up with a sickening headache, but he hadn't cared. Alcohol gave him the confidence that he needed and some hours after arriving, he'd approached her.

Buffy, her name was. Buffy Summers. A beautiful, petite blond with a radiant smile. Albeit, it was a slightly drunken smile, but he'd take it. It was all for him; an older, English man. He hadn't seen her looking at any of the other fellows in the room the same way, and that had given him a strange thrill. Like she'd noticed him.

They'd danced. At least, he assumed they had. He was achy, and he remembered watching her body sway under the lights now that he thought about it. God, why had he had so much to drink?_You cool your bedwarm hands down,  
On the broken radiator.  
And when you lay them freezing on me,  
I mumble, 'Can you wake me later?'  
But I don't really want you to stop.  
And you know it so it doesn't stop you.  
You run your hands from my neck, to my chest._He remembered her hands burning his body with her touch. They must have got back to his flat at some point in the night, or early morning, because he vividly remembered her, in his bed. And if that wasn't proof enough, she was laying with him now, fast asleep and oblivious to his hung-over musings.

He remembered loving the way her soft skin had felt against his, the way she hadn't been overly hesitant despite the fact that they barely knew each other. They had the alcohol to thank for that, he was sure. Not that he was complaining. He'd loved her touch, the way she'd been quick to rid him of his shirt and then the rest of his clothes.Briefly, he looked down at her sleeping form, admiring the sunlight streaming through the curtains as it played across her skin. He was struck by how beautiful she really was, even without his beer goggles on; how vulnerable she looked, sprawled out by his side. Hell, he didn't even know this girl and yet felt more invested in her than he had with any of his previous girlfriends. Shifting, he turned his pillow over, finding that the cool side helped his screaming headache. Inhaling deeply, trying to clear his head, he found that he was simply inhaling her scent. And boy, if that wouldn't cure his hangover, he didn't know what would. An exotic mix of perfume from the night before and a scent that he was sure was uniquely hers. While she was still asleep, and he could, he inhaled again, realising how long he'd been awake and staring at this beautiful woman in his bed. And he could go on staring. Studying her golden skin, he recalled the way his hands had trekked across her skin, committing it to memory. Somehow, the only things he recollected about the previous night involved Buffy, how she'd come to be here with him. There were brief moments of startling clarity, mixed in with barely-there memories of alcohol, dancing and general frivolities.

Crack the shutters open wide,  
I want to bathe you in the light of day.  
And just watch you as the rays tangle up around your face and body.  
I can sit for hours finding new ways to be awed each minute.  
Cause the daylight seems to want you,  
Just as much as I want you.

It's been minutes, it's been days.  
It's been all I will remember.  
Happy lost in your hair,  
And the cold side of the pillow.

Your hills and valleys,  
Are mapped by my intrepid fingers.  
And in a naked slumber,  
I dream all this again.

Getting more comfortable, hesitantly wrapping one arm around her as if to keep her close, Rupert drifted off once more. He dreamed of Buffy, perhaps because of her scent surrounding him, the way that she felt in his arms or simply because she'd been all he'd been able to think about since first setting eyes on her the previous night. It was now Buffy's turn to wake, consider things. She woke in Rupert's arms, something that she hadn't thought would happen. Had she really been thinking at all? She didn't know this guy from Adam. He could have been anyone. She didn't really believe that. When she first laid eyes on him, across the room, she found a sense of peace, like he was a long-lost friend, or lover. They'd definitely clicked, she recalled, remembering how they'd laughed together in the taxi on the way to his place.

Crack the shutters open wide,  
I want to bathe you in the light of day.  
And just watch you as the rays tangle up around your face and body.  
I can sit for hours finding new ways to be awed each minute.  
Cause the daylight seems to want you,  
Just as much as I want you.

How they'd clicked in more ways that just that.

It felt like she'd known him for years, even though they'd only just met.While he slept, she studied him silently, finding that she wanted more than just a one night stand with him. It was an unjustified wish, one she was sure that he wouldn't return. After all, they didn't know each other no matter how much it felt like they did and he'd probably just been looking for someone to lose himself to for a couple of hours. It was unfair for her to want more from him, even if it was only the chance to get to know him better.

Crack the shutters open wide,  
I want to bathe you in the light of day.  
And just watch you as the rays tangle up around your face and body.  
I can sit for hours finding new ways to be awed each minute.  
Cause the daylight seems to want you,  
Just as much as I want you.

So, quietly, she slipped out of his arms, his bed and found her clothes. After a brief moment, she scrawled her mobile number on a scrap of paper that she found, just in case. Just in case, she told herself. Just in case he did want something more.

**A/N. So, this was intended as a one-shot but I might consider continuing with it if you, the reader, want me to. I have another B/G fic in mind, one last chapter to write for Lullaby and a Lily Potter/Severus Snape (not B/G?) fic in the pipeline. Potentially. When I get around to writing them.  
Until next time!  
P.S. Reviews/constructive criticism = love :D**


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